


Nobody (Nobody, No)

by technofinch (SnailArmy)



Category: All Elite Wrestling, Professional Wrestling
Genre: Angst?, Character Study, Unreliable Narrator, unaddressed codependency isssues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28606791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnailArmy/pseuds/technofinch
Summary: Kenny Omega didn't need anyone.(He just happened to always have someone.)
Relationships: Ibushi Kota/Kenny Omega
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Nobody (Nobody, No)

**Author's Note:**

> work title from Nobody, by Mitski <3
> 
> this is about the characters portrayed in matches and promotional material, and not about the real people who portray them! don't be a creep 
> 
> anyway i think it's FASCINATING how kenny omega has managed to create a character that is simultaneously full of hubris and cowardice. this isn't about that exactly, but it's close enough

Kenny Omega didn't need anyone. 

The Bullet Club was a convenient alliance. Nothing more. 

The Elite was the natural result of the Bullet Club expanding. The cream rises to the top, of course. 

Michael Nakazawa was a friend, but everyone had friends. There was nothing Nakazawa did for Kenny that he couldn't do on his own, given enough time and effort. 

Kota Ibushi... was something else. Kenny needed him like the sky needed the stars. He didn't want to think about what that meant. So he didn't. 

Kenny had done perfectly fine on his own in Japan. Going to America and starting an entirely new company was enough to throw anyone off their game, if you asked him. Given time, he would have been more than capable of beating Jericho and Moxley and anyone else who stood in his way, all on his own. 

But the Bucks had worried about him, and the tag titles were a nice enough distraction while the World title scene settled itself. And, all things considered, there were worse people to have in his corner than Hangman Page. 

Kenny never _needed_ him, though. It wasn't his fault if Page resented him for that. And it certainly wasn't his fault that, when Page cost him the titles, they came to the mutual decision to part ways. 

Kenny had never needed anyone else, after all. And he was ready to prove that. It didn't matter who stood in his way - Janela or Kiss, Penta or Fenix. It was time that he took his rightful place as the AEW World Champion. 

Kenny Omega didn't have second thoughts. He didn't sit awake in his hotel room, watching tapes of Jon Moxley or anyone else, and he never doubted himself. He was the best goddamn wrestler in the world. 

Sometimes, though, Kenny Omega scrolled through the contacts he still had saved to his phone. Numbers he hadn't called in years, names held close to his heart. He didn't need anyone else, no, but maybe he wanted an old friend to share in the glory of his victory. 

It wasn't on him if that old friend took matters into his own hands. Kenny could do it all by himself, of course, but it was only polite to allow Callis to help him. It would make Jon feel better. Allow the rest of the roster to think they had a fighting chance. 

And helping one old friend felt so good (it didn't feel good, somewhere _deep_ Kenny felt that sick spread of inadequacy, _you're relying on them too much you **need** them you can't do it on your own_) it only made sense to call up another. Forget letting old acquaintance be forgot; the Good Brothers were Impact Wrestling tag team champions. Surely it would only be good business sense to do some cross-promotion. 

Kenny Omega didn't need friends, or allies, or whatever you wanted to call them. But he didn't need enemies, either; God knows he'd made plenty of them. It was nothing more than a strategic move to surround himself with talented, _loyal_ people. Of course, he _could_ manage on his own, but if he didn't have to, why should he? 

Thinking about how it felt to be surrounded once again by people who needed him, who wanted him around, made Kenny's stomach turn. So he didn't think about it. It didn't make the feelings go away, but it did let one thing slip through the cracks. He had been so careful not to reach out to Ibushi, not to let that mask fall. But one little tweet couldn't hurt. 

It wasn't directed at him. Chances were high he wouldn't even see it, given the massive amount of social media buzz that comes with winning the two biggest titles in the main event of the biggest Japanese professional wrestling event of the year. Kenny could allow himself a single moment of sentimentality, and it would be swept way utterly unnoticed. 

ようやくですね。  
おめでとう。

"Finally, eh?  
Congratulations." 

It could have meant anything, really. No one could prove that it was about anyone in particular. 

But Kota did see it. 

Because Kota _liked_ it. 

Kenny Omega didn't need anyone, and least of all did he need the shadow of Kota Ibushi looming over him like a weight he couldn't shake. The tweet had been a stupid idea. He should just delete it. 

He didn't delete it. 

He didn't follow up on it, either. Kenny didn't want Ibushi to think he was some kind of sad loser or obsessed freak, watching his matches like he had nothing better to do at 6am on a Tuesday. 

Besides, he did have better things to do. He was planning a Bullet Club reunion. ~~Nevermind that he had chosen Bullet Club over Kota before. Could Kenny Omega learn from his mistakes?~~ Kenny Omega didn't make mistakes. 

And he didn't need anyone.


End file.
